The Dignity Memorial brand name is used to identify a network of licensed funeral, cremation and cemetery providers that include affiliates of Service Corporation International, 1929 Allen Parkway, Houston, Texas. In 2001, he reportedly had been wanted by the Colorado Springs Police Department for "assault with a deadly weapon and failure to comply on the original charge of distribution of a Schedule II controlled substance". The importance of saying "I love you" during COVID-19, Effective ways of dealing with the grieving process, Solutions to show your sympathy safely during the Covid-19 pandemic. As Betty strolled past lots both finished and untouched, she saw what first looked like a mannequin splayed near the sidewalk. By the time of the Wonderland murders, Lind had been incarcerated several times for armed burglary, forgery, assault, and assault with the intent to commit rape. And with overnight lows in the 40s, theres no chance of slipping on treacherous, ice-slick streets. He is also survived by nieces, nephews, cousins, and many friends. Neighbors knew the place had more than a bad rep it had bad juju. Above all, she was a fun-loving "Gram and enjoyed spoiling and spending time with her grandchildren. Because this was a neighborhood under construction, there were numerous undeveloped lots set amid modest new homes built to alleviate the housing crunch of that era. Select boxes below to reduce the number of results. Memorials may be made to Hospice of Southern IL, PanCan.org, or First United Presbyterian Church Building Fund. Holmes slept fitfully for a few hours, Sharon Holmes said, and moaned about blood and pain. Later she worked with her husband at Launius Marketing. He was predeceased by : his wife Susan; his parents, Carl and Fern; his sister Nancy; and his brother-in-law Darwin Kraft. The address: Waverly Drive. The multiple homicide shocked the city, which was still somewhat innocent and trusting at the end of the halcyon hippie days. Valhalla-Gaerdner-Holten Funeral Home & Valhalla Gardens, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Prior to her disappearance, shed packed up all her earthly possessions and locked then up in the downtown Greyhound bus station. I know who did it.. (73 years old). How did Shorts body end up in this strange residential environment, seven miles and seven days away from her last sighting? LOS ANGELES -- The lone survivor of the massacre of four people in the swank Laurel Canyon home of an attractive blonde woman suspected of dealing in drugs was under a 24-hour hospital guard Friday as the star witness in the case. So, Nash became the target of a harebrained idea. Holmes told his wife that he rode with three armed men to the address on Wonderland Avenue. Search by Name. The home invasion was successful, and Launiuss boys got away without being identified by Nash and his crew. Launius's wife Susan was gravely injured and is the only known survivor of the attack. Rosemary and Leno LaBianca were brutally murdered in their Los Feliz home by members of the Manson Family in 1969. Burial in Valhalla Gardens of Memory, Belleville. The address: Wonderland Avenue. Accounts vary as to how and why Holmes arrived there; according to some sources, Holmes went there himself to try to make himself appear innocent, whereas others claim Holmes was kidnapped by Nash's henchmen when they recognized him walking around wearing some of Nash's jewelry. Susan Launius's net worth He said, I had to stand there and watch what they did, Sharon Holmes recalled. . This site is provided as a service of SCI Shared Resources, LLC. after spending a drug-fueled evening there a year before. The house, tucked deep in Laurel Canyon, was a suspected drug den where parties raged around the clock. Susan. In their comfortable Los Feliz dwelling, constructed in 1922 and situated near the crest of a hill. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. How did Shorts body end up in this strange residential environment, seven miles and seven days away from. But the new accounts cast doubt on the story Holmes told a biographer before his death March 13. Help tell the story of your loved ones unique life. This time, flipping the script, Holmes would gain access to Launiuss Wonderland Avenue pad for Nashs ultraviolent retribution. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. Add a Memory. When Holmes returned to his car hours later, two armed men ordered him to drive to Nashs home, he said. She is the sole survivor of the brutal Wonderland attack the night of July 1, 1981; she suffered severe head injuries, amnesia, and a severed finger following the attack. He went out of his life denying, said Sharon Holmes, (saying) I had no involvement., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Spain approves menstrual leave, teen abortion and trans laws. Manson had collected his death cult from the masses of young, aimless drifters who had descended upon the West Coast in the late 1960s, entranced by the supposedly good vibes of a scene populated with other young people, hippies, and freaks not to mention, crooks and hustlers peddling free love and other illusions. The fourth victim, Billy DeVerell as he died on the floor of the 3rd floor bedroom. Perhaps the most horrifying sight was Launius's wife, Susan. Unfortunately, thats not always the case. The importance of saying "I love you" during COVID-19, Effective ways of dealing with the grieving process, Solutions to show your sympathy safely during the Covid-19 pandemic. Susan Bell Launius, nee Haywood, 70, of Belleville, born in Belleville on 9-14-1943, died Sunday August 10, 2014 at her residence, surrounded by her husband and children. In essence, what they wanted him to do was . He was one of 5 children born during the depression and times were hard. Launius was married in November 1954 to the love of his life, Cecelia Irene Rutkoski from Marlin, TX. At least two of the four people beaten to death at the yellow two-story house in rustic Laurel Canyon had narcotics records and the blonde woman who rented the house delivered drugs in her shiny white Mercedes, court records indicated Friday. (77 years old). She served as a deacon and a Stephen minister. . He was a lifelong member of Zion Evangelical Church in Millstadt, Ill., American Legion Post 502 in Millstadt, Ill., Progressive Mine Workers Local 76, and the Operating Engineers Local 520. Visitation: 4 8pm Thursday August 14, 2014 at Valhalla-Gaerdner-Holten Funeral Home, Belleville IL, and 9 10am Friday August 15, 2014 at First United Presbyterian Church, Belleville IL. Leave a memory or share a photo or video below to show your support. Face of Ron Launius (May 18, 1944 - July 1, 1981) Ronald Lee "Ron" Launius was the leader of the Wonderland Gang, a squad of drug dealers that operated out of a dope house at 8763 Wonderland Avenue in the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles, California, moving large amounts of cocaine and small amounts of heroin. Clyde Alan Vaughn (Carol), Susan Lynne Vaughn of Jefferson City, MO and Dwight Thomas Vaughn of New Orleans, LA. On December 17, 1948 in Sikeston, MO. The day after the robbery, someone who knew Nash apparently spotted Holmes in Hollywood, wearing a piece of jewelry that had been stolen from Nashs home, he told his wife. Launius, 36, was a Vietnam Veteran who had been dishonorably discharged after the Air Force discovered he had been smuggling heroin back to the states from overseas in the body bags of deceased servicemen.Married to his second wife Susan, Launius was basically on a crime spree throughout most of the 1970s including one incident in Mexico where . Visitation: Friends may call Monday June 6, 2011 from 5-8 pm, at First United Presbyterian Church, 1303 Royal Heights Road, Belleville, IL 62223. This site is provided as a service of SCI Shared Resources, LLC. You could hit the lofty heights of stardom, like Tom Cruise. And yet. Sign up for service and obituary updates. He would have to take them to the house.. Biography Susan A. Murphy married Ron Launius in Carson City, Nevada on 16 April 1971, and the two of them were heavy drug users. After a key witness for the prosecution died in an unrelated police shootout, the murder charges against Launius were dropped. Nash was separately convicted of cocaine possession and served about two years in state prison. He is a member of famous with the age 71 years old group. . Scott Thorson, who was buying drugs at Nash's home, wrote in his memoir My Life with Liberace (1988) that Nash had ordered Diles to bring Holmes to Nash's house, which Diles did after finding Holmes walking around Hollywood wearing one of Nash's rings. Here is William E. Launius Sr.'s obituary. Theres somebody out there who wants to kill me, Holmes told Sharon, his wife of 16 years. Breaking into Hollywood And Breaking Apart, Doing Harm: Doctors Who Murder and Maim Their Patients, Jim Jones: The Twisted Story of the Man behind the Jonestown Massacre. And what fiendish sadist could have inflicted such pain prior to her death, and then carefully exsanguinated the corpse, washed her thoroughly, and carved her in two? On the morning of June 29, 1981, four men who lived at the Wonderland Avenue address entered Nashs house through a sliding glass door that had been left ajar by Holmes, according to trial testimony. Mrs. Launius moved to Bloomfield, Missouri, where she met the love of her life, Kent A. Launius. He was born on April 10, 1930 in Bloomfield, MO. Your entry has exceeded the maximum character limit. He spent 110 days in jail for contempt of court. Later she worked with her husband at Launius Marketing. Only Susan Launius survived, but her severe head injuries caused her to be unable to recall anything of the attacks. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. Funeral arrangement under the care ofUtah Valley Mortuary. From Crime Stories to Our Place in the Universe: Mysteries Exist for Us to Solve. Click or call (800) 729-8809, Valhalla-Gaerdner-Holten Funeral Home and Cremation Services. 2023 SCI SHARED RESOURCES, LLC. Ronald S. Coen, now a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, argued that the fatal beatings were intended to avenge the humiliating armed robbery of Los Angeles nightclub owner Adel Nasrallah, also known as Eddie Nash. As the wife of a drug dealer on the rise, she was protected from the gritty details of the life while enjoying its benefits for one, the money was great. Susan Bell Launius, nee Haywood, 70, of Belleville, born in Belleville on 9-14-1943, died Sunday August 10, 2014 at her residence, surrounded by her husband and children. James M. Eisenman, a Century City attorney who represents Holmes estate and his second wife, said he doubts Sharon Holmes story. Holmes spent a good portion of his days (and nights) partying with the Wonderland crew. Reportedly, at the time of his death, police investigators throughout California, largely in the Sacramento area, had 27 open homicide cases they believed were perpetrated by Launius. Sign the Guest Book. Thorson claimed to have witnessed Nash order Diles to beat Holmes, and said Nash threatened to kill Holmes and his family, until Holmes identified the people behind the robbery. In a recent interview with The Times, Sharon Holmes, who divorced the late actor in 1984, described for the first time the story her husband told her less than three weeks after the July 1 killings. For others, its just a dead end. Kevin Martin is Senior Writer for MagellanTV. . She was later unable to identify her attackers. Susan was a lifelong member of First United Presbyterian Church in Belleville, IL. Prepare a personalized obituary for someone you loved.. Sympathy Ideas. March 17, 1926 - October 31, 2020. Some heard a woman's screams coming from the house Tuesday morning, but ignored them in the belief someone was playing a joke, partying or having a nightmare. did in 1932, peering over the edge at the expanse of Los Angeles as you prepare to leap to your undying infamy. . He was. The scene: By the 1980s, Laurel Canyon had been transformed from a center of creativity and hippie lifestyles to a center for heavy drug distribution, including that favorite of the entertainment industry: cocaine. The robbery was an inside job set up by Holmes, who was a close associate of Nash's, and whom Nash regularly referred to as "my brother". The Dignity Memorial brand name is used to identify a network of licensed funeral, cremation and cemetery providers that include affiliates of Service Corporation International, 1929 Allen Parkway, Houston, Texas. Diles died in 1997 from liver failure. Sign up for service and obituary updates. And what fiendish sadist could have inflicted such pain prior to her death, and then carefully exsanguinated the corpse, washed her thoroughly, and carved her in two? Special thanks to Hospice of Southern IL for their care and compassion. The 43-year-old actor died as a result of complications arising from his infection with the AIDS virus. 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